Out with the Old: 3 Tips for Trash Day
Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges!
2 Corinthians 5:17 MSG
A few weeks ago, I cleaned out my car. If I’m honest, on most days my car is likely to have clothes, shoes, and whatever toy my son wants to “show and tell” at the babysitter’s house. It’s just junky (and this is a no-judgment zone, sis). So my monthly clean-out was long overdue and quite frankly necessary.
I bagged everything up—the trash and the other knickknacks strewed about the car. I strategically separated the “keeps” from the throwaways, with the intention of putting everything in its rightful place....later. But. As I was rushing to check things off my to-do list for the evening, I left the bag that contained the “keep” items—rainboots, unused face masks, a jean jacket, and a puzzle—by the side door.
Girl, wouldn’t you know it, my oldest son took that bag, along with the other trash, to the tree lawn for garbage day. All of it…gone!
I was devastated.
These were things that I needed, things I planned on using (I literally had a whole outfit planned for that jean jacket), and now my stuff was headed to a landfill.
Throughout this entire pandemic, God has been in the process of bagging up some things in my life.
I found value in these things, comfort in attaching my identity to these things. I had plans for some of these things. And, many of these things I wore subconsciously as a badge of honor, while it left a lukewarm aftertaste in the Lord's mouth (ouch!). However, the deeper I asked God to take me, and the more desperate I became to hear His voice, the more He revealed (and still revealing) to me that a trash day is inevitable.
🗑Negative thinking….garbage
🗑Unproductivity…it has to go too
🗑Unequally yoked relationships…to the dumpster
🗑Hearing but not doing the Word….landfill bound!
The cleanout is real. The cleanup is uncomfortable. But I don’t want to drag the weight of spiritual garbage with me any longer.
The good news, sis, is that what God removes, He will replace. The promise of God is a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17) and the more I see, by faith, that this new life is accessible for me, I have become a willing participant in this process…usually (if I’m honest).
As we enter a new month and look ahead to 2022, there is no better time than right now, to allow God to clean the junk out of your car, figuratively speaking. So, here are 3 tips to get started—
Pray for the heart to surrender control of your life, in exchange for God’s perfect will. Wave the white flag and pray this: “Lord, I realize that I can do nothing apart from you. So today, I’m giving you everything that I thought I wanted and needed; my past, future, and present—it is yours for the taking. Help me to trust that in your will there is goodness when I let go of all the old.”
Set aside intentional time to read the Bible. I recommend at least 15-minutes a day and increase in 5-minute increments, every month until you reach at least 30 minutes. Check out the Walk Royal 30-Day Quiet-Time Journal for guided questions.
Be an active participant and commit to the process. I am tempted most days to rummage through my spiritual garbage bag to take out things that I think I can still use. BUT I realize where God wants me to go requires me to let go. Being an active participant will mean seeking out discipleship at a local church and possibly going to therapy.
Although I am still a bit salty about some of the items that were tossed out, I am looking ahead to the new things that will replace them (I already have some new rainboots). The same is true for all the things that I’m having to let go of in order to grow spiritually. I’m not always happy about it, some days all I want to do is cry but I am looking ahead with maturing faith that God will do as He said.
Keep walking royal 👑
Reese
